When Claudio Ranieri led unfancied Leicester City to one of the most remarkable title successes in English football history, it seemed unfathomable that the Italian would be out of a job less than a year later.
But just nine months after the Foxes stunned the football world, the Italian was out at the King Power Stadium, as Leicester’s title defence had turned into a relegation scrap.
With the club sitting just one point above the drop zone in February 2017, Craig Shakespeare was given the job of caretaker manager and Ranieri was left to reflect on a whirlwind 18-month period in charge.
Ranieri on the challenge of following up a miracle title win
“Unfortunately, the following season didn’t go nearly as well,” Ranieri recalls to FourFourTwo. “I had warned everyone that we couldn’t repeat what we’d done. It was impossible. Playing both league and Champions League football is extremely demanding if you aren’t used to it. The physical and mental energy required is enormous.
“In the league, especially against the bigger sides, the performances were still there. Whether we won or lost, the boys played well. But European football takes a toll and we paid the price in the league, usually against less prestigious teams.”
The Foxes’ Champions League campaign saw them top their group ahead of Porto to set up a last-16 tie against Sevilla, in what proved to be Ranieri’s last stand.
“Still, our Champions League adventure was wonderful,” the Italian continues. “We won our group with a game to spare and without conceding a goal in the first four matches. We lost 2-1 at Sevilla in the first leg of the last 16. It was a difficult period in the league – we’d taken just a single point from the previous six matches. That evening, on the plane home, I was told that I would no longer be the manager.
“I didn’t say a word, but honestly, it hurt. Nine months earlier, we had won the Premier League together, but now I was being dismissed? Why? Later, the chairman’s son told me the problem was I didn’t get on with some English members of the staff. Unbelievable.
“Already the season before, when we were top of the league, one of the staff members had been speaking badly about me to the players. I called him into my office and asked why – he couldn’t even give me an answer.
“At that point I was too focused on the title race, so I simply told the general manager that at the end of the season, we’d let him go.
“In the end we won the title – there was such joy, such celebration, that I decided to do nothing. That was a mistake. The following year, he continued speaking negatively about me to the players.
A decade on, and Ranieri remains philosophical about the way things panned out at the King Power Stadium.
“Being sacked is part of a manager’s career and I accepted it,” he continues. “I took it badly, but not really much worse than other dismissals I’d experienced, because the satisfaction of what we’d achieved went far beyond any disappointment. Football is like that.”
